Business groups hit out after the chancellor signals she will raise the amount employers pay in National Insurance.

The Chancellor has insisted that increasing employers’ National Insurance contributions in the Budget will not break Labour’s promise not to raise taxes on working people.

Rachel Reeves will announce Labour’s first Budget in 15 years later this month, leading one of the most highly-anticipated fiscal events in over a decade. As the chancellor looks to fill the £22bn “black hole” in public spending she announced in late July,

The chancellor was speaking at the government's International Investment Summit, where deals worth £63bn were hailed.

The Chancellor told ministers on Monday that plans to fill a £22 billion black hole would be enough only to ‘keep public services standing still’.